Picture This

The gang was all in white, lined up for the family picture. The brother got pissed off at his sister, picked up a pile of mud, and wiped it all over her lily-white top. Mayhem ensued and the shots the photog got were the best ever. That episode of Modern Family jogged a memory about our "sitting" a few months ago. We were dressed accordingly and feeling a bit stiff. After 20 minutes of posing, Dan had the brilliant idea to pull out the wigs. Viola, the personalities emerged.

Capturing that "moment" is key and I wanted some professional advice considering summer travel is upon us. My friend and professional Mapplethorpe, Josh Lehrer, has some enlightening tips. http://joshlehrer.com/ Papa Josh has shot portraits of the big guns such as Donald Trump, Richard Meier, and Tina Brown. His conceptual work has been on bigger-than-life Times Square billboards. Currently, the walls of the Mandarin Oriental in Vegas are adorned with Papa's work. Here are his thoughts on creating artistic memories.

• Do the opposite of what the camera instructions say. If they say to put the sun at your back, try the sun facing you for something more interesting and dynamic.
  
• Family shots - Don't worry what the kids are doing. The parents freak out and get themselves in such a tizzy that they end up looking haggard. Take care of yourself. Let the kids be kids. Trust the photographer to get the great shot.
• Travel pics - Put your subject in the extreme foreground with the pyramid in the extreme background.

One final idea - say "money" instead of "cheese." Saying "money" makes the corners of your mouth go back in a more natural way. And if you believe that you conjure what you say out loud, it's much better to picture more money than cheese any day.